There exists great diversity in the digestive systems of animals. Animals such as cattle, sheep, buffalo and goats are ruminant species which have four stomach compartments. The first compartment is the rumen, and the fourth is the abomasum, the true stomach. The other compartments play no true role in the digestive system. Rumens contain large populations of beneficial microorganisms. The ruminal microorganisms break down the feeds eaten by the host animal and utilize the resulting products such as nitrogen and ammonia as nutrients for their own growth and multiplication (cell division). Ruminal microorganisms later pass into the abomasum and intestines of the animal to become food for their host. These foods produce growth, weight gains, milk, milk proteins, milk fat, or butter fat and if the host is sheep the production of wool is also helped by diet.
Ruminal microorganisms are anaerobic bacteria which are susceptible to oxygen which is detrimental to their growth and multiplication. The atmosphere of the rumen thus has a direct effect on ruminal bacteria. The presence of oxygen in the rumen will result in poor digestion of various feeds such as grains, hay, silage, pasture, straw, cannery and gin waste, and paper.
Ruminants have long been thought to have the ability to convert enough of the crude foods they consume into microbial proteins to fully support and sustain themselves and produce plentiful food products such as meat and milk. It has been proven, however, that this is far from the truth. Many of the feeds provided these animals either do not contain complete proteins and/or may be poorly digested by the animals. Currently, if one walks through animal corrals, kicking the tops off manure piles, one will observe a large amount of undigested grain. There will also be a large amount of undigested hay and silage, which is harder to see. Some dairies have pig pens at the bottom ends of their flush lanes from the milking parlor and holding pens, because of the large amount of grain undigested by the ruminant animals.
A variety of animal feeds have been developed and continue to be developed to address this problem which has not been completely solved. Accordingly, there is still a need for an improved ruminant feed or nutritional supplement which will provide for a more complete digestion and utilization of nutrients.
Animals with cecums, an enlarged part of the intestines located next to the colon, also have a large population of beneficial microorganisms, making it possible for them to eat grain, hay, pasture or range grass. Rabbits, hamsters and guinea pigs are animals with cecums.
Animals such as the horse also have the cecum digestive system, which contains microorganisms but in much less numbers than in the ruminant. These animals can live on grass, hay and straw, but must eat almost continuously because so much undigested feed passes through them.
The simplest digestive system of all consists of the mouth, associated glands, esophagus, stomach, small intestine, large intestine, pancreas and liver. This is the type of gastrointestinal tract found in the pig, dog, mink, fish, monkey and man. It has limited capacity and limited microbial action and fiber digestion. Animals with the most simple digestive systems such as man also more completely digest and utilize all the nutrients from the foods they eat, if properly supplemented, resulting in better health, more frame and muscle growth, more energy and stamina.
Various feeds have been developed and continue to be developed for animals with cecums as well as horses. A large variety of nutritional supplements have been developed and continue to be developed for man. This continuing effort is a result of the present situation wherein these nutritional needs are also not fully met by existing feeds and supplements. Accordingly, there remains a need for an improved nutritional supplement for both animals and man.
Compositions and methods employing methenamine, also known as hexamethylenetetramine, are known in the related art.
Hirata, U.S. Pat. No. 3,670,080 discloses a process for stabilization of compositions of 2a, 3a-epithio-androstanes and compositions obtained thereby employing a basic substance as a stabilizer to prevent acid and heat induced degradation of the androstane. Methenamine is included in a lengthy list of optional basic substances. One example was disclosed employing methenamine to prevent degradation of the androstane. The compositions of '080 are used for treatment of a variety of human or animal conditions demanding anabolic agents.
Hellberg, U.S. Pat. No. 3,961,079 discloses methods and compositions for ensiling animal fodder employing a mixture of hexamethylenetetramine and sodium nitrite. The purpose of the chemical additives is to produce a selective preservative/bacterial static action, so as to promote fermentation processes producing lactic acid, but suppress the growth of butyric acid producing bacteria. The main object of such inventions is to provide ensilage compositions resulting in a low production of undesired products such as butyric acid, acetic acid and ammonia and a low loss of organic materials such as sugar and protein prior to feeding the silage to the animal. The methods for ensiling include a step for combining the chemical additive in solid or liquid form with the fodder followed by a fermentation time. The ensilage is preferably kept in a silo for at least three weeks before it is consumed to allow for sufficient fermentation.
The invention of Bertram, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,042,716 is also directed to a preservative for fodder, mixed fodder and silage against the undesired action of micro-organisms such as bacteria, yeast and mold fungi. The objective is to increase the storage stability of fodder, mixed fodder and silage having appreciable water content. Fodder and mixed fodder having water contents up to about 16% are of limited storage stability, while those with greater water contents are quickly spoiled. Drying fodder is only possible to a limited extent and is often uneconomical. Hence, Bertram '716 discloses fodder, mixed fodder or silage containing acrylic acid, methacrylic acid or an ester or salt of acrylic acid or methacrylic acid in an amount effective to preserve said fodder, mixed fodder or silage. A hexamethylenetetramine salt of acrylic or methacrylic acid is disclosed as a preservative. The preservatives are mixed as solids with the fodder, mixed fodder or silage or, preferably, are added as liquids. Again, in all cases, water is present to serve as a medium for the preservative action. Additionally, a storage or fermentation time is inherently used prior to feeding the fodder, mixed fodder or silage to the animal.
Burroughs, et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,186,213 discloses methods of feeding cattle to assure maximized protein utilization comprising feeding the cattle a feed ration containing a plurality of different naturally occurring protein-providing feed materials. At least one of said materials is treated by heat, tannin or an aldehyde chemical stabilizing agent to reduce the water solubility of the protein and protect it against rumen destruction. The protein treatment process employing the chemical stabilizing agents involves application of the chemical agent in a water solution. A water solution in the amount of 2% to 50% by weight of the chemical agent based upon the dry weight of the feed material being treated is suitable. Typically, soybean meal is treated with a 7% aqueous solution supply of formaldehyde equal to 0.4% or 0.6% of the meal dry matter. The treated meal is then permitted to react a minimum of 12 hours before incorporation into cattle diets. Examples of effective aldehydes are formaldehyde, glyoxal and glutaraldehyde. Burroughs '213 provides reference to a paper by Schmidt, et al.: "Effects of Formaldehyde, Glyoxal or Hexamethylenetetramine Treatments of Soybean Meal on Nitrogen Utilization and Growth in Rats and In Vitro Rumen Ammonia Release." J. Animal. Sci. 1973, 37:1238. This study utilized concentrated aqueous solutions of chemicals sprayed onto soybean meal, followed by mixing and air drying for one week before incorporation into experimental diets. This study reported inconclusive results with hexamethylenetetramine pretreatment of soybean meal to protect it against rumen destruction. Moreover, in a test of the effectiveness of methenamine to serve as a potential source of ammonia which could be utilized in the rumen for microbial synthesis, this study reported that only about 3% to 4% of the "potential ammonia" from hexamethylenetetramine was released during the three-hour in vitro model rumen fermentation and that no conclusions could be drawn regarding model rumen metabolism of hexamethylenetetramine. The authors concluded at most that hexamethylenetetramine will chemically bind soybean proteins and its potential usage for use in ruminants in a chemical pretreatment process warrants further investigation.
Pais, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,482,550 discloses fodder and fodder additives promoting the weight increase of domestic animals and a process for the use thereof. The fodder and fodder additives contain stable complexes of titanium. Optional preservative compounds can be added to protect the stability of the water-soluble titanium complexes against oxidation and microorganisms in a wet environment or under high atmospheric humidity. Hexamethylenetetramine is disclosed as one such preservative compound.
Thus, methenamine or hexamethylenetetramine has been used as a chemical stabilization agent against acid and heat-induced degradation, as a preservative pre-treatment for wet fodder and silage and as a chemical pre-treatment agent for protein-based feed materials to reduce the water solubility of the protein and protect it against rumen destruction.